Category: economics
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Rhetorical Advantages of Giving
Matt Barton’s observations in the “The Rhetorical Advantages of Giving” post from May 2004 resonate closely with the economic and ideological philosophy with which I am approaching my own “Publish At Will” writing project. Thanks to Miguel Guhlin for pointing me to this post…
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WalMart picketers & Globalism
The Las Vegas Weekly is reporting that a worker’s union which represents WalMart employees is hiring temp workers (without benefits) to protest WalMart’s employee practices and “greed.” Quite a bit of irony in this situation, but also some viable issues that should not be ignored. The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW – www.ufcw.org) published…
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Cell phones in the developing world
One in 11 Africans is now a mobile subscriber…Africa has an average of just one land line for every 33 people, but cellphones are enabling millions of people to skip a technological generation and bound straight from letter-writing to instant messaging. This article from the New York Times today, “Cellphones Catapult Rural Africa to 21st…
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Who wants to own content?
Jeff Jarvis’s post on “Who wants to own content?” is Web 2.0 poetry. Consider this quotation: Content is transient, its value perishable, its chance of success slight. You think your article or book or movie or song or show is worth a fortune and in a blockbuster economy, if you were insanely lucky, you could…
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More thoughts on “deregulating education”
A comment from David Warlick’s blog encouraged me to reflect more about “deregulating education.” Here is a copy of my comment post on David’s post and PJ’s comment: It may sound wishy-washy at this point, but I am not really sure what my opinion on charter schools is. I do support empowering teachers, and to…
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Grocery store advertising goes more multimedia
This was an advertisement I saw tonight in our local Albertsons here in Lubbock, Texas: The ad was backlit and scrolled up to rotate, there were probably about 5 different ads featured. This is the first time I have seen something like this in a local store. At least the image didn’t change based on…
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Why is consumerism bad?
A good friend raised a thought provoking question in email today, and I thought it was worth blogging about to share these ideas with others and see if anyone has other thoughts…. Is consumerism bad? Ask a Marxist supporter of a critical educational theorist like Paulo Freire, and you will probably receive a shocked look…
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Responses to NYT article: “The Hidden (in Plain Sight) Persuaders”
This rather lengthy but thought provoking NYT article raises important issues about our need for community, the ridiculous lengths to which marketers are going to change consumer behavior, and the ethics of “buzz” marketing… This article is on www.nytimes.com/2004/12/05/magazine/05BUZZ.html. Save yourself the privacy intrusion of registering with the NYT website to access the full article…
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21st Century Shopping, RFID chips, Privacy and “the mark of the beast”
An article in the July 2004 issue of Wired about RFID chips is certainly worth reading, because we are all consumers of one sort…. An article in the latest Wired magazine (July 2004), web posted July 7— caught my attention today with its reference to “the mark of the beast.” I have heard about “smart…
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Job Outsourcing to India and US Schools
A recent article in Wired magazine about IT outsourcing to India and other locations should drive home the importance of US schools teaching beyond the requirements of mandated testing, and encouraging student creativity among many other things. This may prove to be an issue of economic survival. The February 2004 article in Wired magazine, “The…